Artist Focus: Kari Percival

  Malden-based Kari Percival is an artist whose work focuses on social justice, the environment and the earth. She has a book, “How to Say Hello to a Worm: A First Guide to Outside,” which “introduces very young children to gardening outdoors.”

  According to her website, Percival “was inspired by [her] experience leading the Early Birds’ Garden Club at the Malden Community Garden with her young children. As they gardened, she noticed what questions children and their parents had, and how they found the answers together. She wrote this book to inspire more kids and their parents to get their hands dirty.”

  Her children’s illustrations and relief prints from the book are currently on display at Urban Media Arts (UMA) – formerly Malden Access TV (MATV) – along with the work of two other local artists. In 2021 UMA presented the Producers of the Year Award for videos that Percival collaboratively designed with her husband, Greg Cook, through “Wonderland Spectacle Company.”

  Percival also received “Artist in Residence” status in 2022 from Arts Arlington, which facilitated her working with different environmental organizations in Arlington to create posters for their campaigns.

  “The environment has always been the most important thing to me, as long as I can remember,” says Percival. She states, “I’m very concerned about the rate of extinction of living species and the warming planet making parts of the world unlivable for humans and species. I have always been interested in using art to communicate about ecology and to use art in service to make the world a better place.”

  Kari Percival’s children’s illustrations and relief prints from her book are exclusively on sale at The Gallery@57 (57 Pleasant Street in Malden). You can also find her book as well as fairy kits and other prints on sale there.